Cornelius Vanderbilt
American business magnate in railroads and shipping.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, born on May 27, 1794, in Staten Island, New York, and known as "the Commodore," amassed his fortune through railroads and shipping. Starting in his father's business, he rose to lead inland and coastal shipping operations before shifting his focus to the booming railroad industry, a move that reshaped the nation's geography. He ranks among the richest Americans ever and was the founding patriarch of the influential Vanderbilt family. His initial donation established Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Vanderbilt's ancestry traces back to Jan Aertson, a Dutch farmer from De Bilt, Utrecht, who came to New Amsterdam as an indentured servant in 1650. The Dutch "van der" ("of the") was added to his village name, forming "van der Bilt," later shortened to Vanderbilt. Another ancestor was Anthony Janszoon van Salee.
He quit school at 11 to work on his father's ferry in New York Harbor. At 16, he launched his own ferry service—either by borrowing $100 from his mother to buy a periauger named the *Swiftsure*, or by splitting profits from his father's vessel, depending on the account. He carried freight and passengers between Staten Island and Manhattan, and his tireless work ethic earned him the joking nickname "The Commodore," which stuck for life. Unlike many relatives who joined the Episcopal Church, Vanderbilt remained a Moravian Church member and helped build a local Moravian parish.
On December 19, 1813, he married his first cousin, Sophia Johnson, and they moved into a Manhattan boarding house. They had 13 children: Phebe (1814), Ethelinda (1817), Eliza (1819), William (1821), Emily (1823), Sophia (1825), Maria (1827), Frances (1828), Cornelius Jeremiah (1830), George (1832, died 1836), Mary (1834), Catherine (1836), and another George (1839). Besides running his ferry, Vanderbilt bought his brother-in-law's schooner and traded goods with his father and others. In 1817, ferry entrepreneur Thomas Gibbons hired him to captain a steamboat between New Jersey and New York. Vanderbilt kept his own ventures but became Gibbons's business manager.
Gibbons was fighting a steamboat monopoly granted by New York State to Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton. Though both were dead, Livingston's heirs held the monopoly and licensed Aaron Ogden to run a New York–New Jersey ferry. Gibbons, in a personal feud with Ogden, undercut prices and brought the case *Gibbons v. Ogden* to the Supreme Court to break the monopoly. Working for Gibbons, Vanderbilt learned to manage a complex business. He moved his family to New Brunswick, New Jersey, where Sophia ran a profitable inn. Vanderbilt also handled legal matters, hiring Daniel Webster to argue the case. He appealed his own monopoly case to the Court, but it was never heard because on March 2, 1824, the Court ruled for Gibbons, declaring states cannot interfere with interstate commerce—a landmark decision protecting competitive trade.
After Gibbons died in 1826, Vanderbilt worked for his son until 1829, then struck out on his own. He took over Gibbons's New Jersey ferry, expanded to western Long Island Sound, and in 1831 acquired his brother Jacob's Peekskill line on the lower Hudson. That year, Daniel Drew opposed him with a steamboat, forcing Vanderbilt to buy him out. Impressed, Vanderbilt became Drew's secret partner for the next 30 years to avoid competition. On November 8, 1833, he survived the Hightstown rail accident.
- born
- May 27, 1794, Staten Island, New York
- died
- January 4, 1877
- field
- Railroads and shipping
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Building wealth in railroads and shipping; patriarch of the Vanderbilt family; f
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in Staten Island, New York, on May 27, 1794, to Cornelius van Derbilt and Phebe Hand. He began working on his father's ferry in New York Harbor as a boy, quitting school at age 11. At age 16, he decided to start his own ferry service. According to one version of events, he borrowed $100 from his mother to purchase a periauger named the Swiftsure; however, according to the first account of his life published in 1853, the periauger belonged to his father and the younger Vanderbilt received half the profit. He began by ferrying freight and passengers between Staten Island and Manhattan. Other captains took to calling him 'The Commodore' in jest—a nickname that stuck. On December 19, 1813, at age 19, he married his first cousin Sophia Johnson; they had 13 children together. Vanderbilt remained a member of the Moravian Church to his death. On November 8, 1833, he was nearly killed in the Hightstown rail accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey; also on the train was president John Quincy Adams.
Reader's Guide
Cornelius Vanderbilt's significance lies in his transformation of American transportation. After Thomas Gibbons died in 1826, Vanderbilt worked for Gibbons' son William until 1829, then worked entirely for himself. He started lines between New York and the surrounding region, taking over Gibbons' ferry to New Jersey and switching to western Long Island Sound. In 1831, he took over his brother Jacob's line to Peekskill, New York, and faced opposition by Daniel Drew, who forced Vanderbilt to buy him out; Vanderbilt became a secret partner with Drew for the next thirty years. In 1834, Vanderbilt competed on the Hudson River against the Hudson River Steamboat Association using the name 'The People's Line'; at the end of the year, the monopoly paid him a large amount to stop competing. By the end of the 1840s, he dominated the steamboat business on Long Island Sound and took over the presidency of the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad in 1847. When the California gold rush began in 1849, he switched to ocean-going steamships and started a steamship line to Nicaragua, founding the Accessory Transit Company. In 1852, a dispute with Joseph L. White led to a business battle; while Vanderbilt was on a grand tour of Europe in 1853, White conspired with Charles Morgan to deny him money. Vanderbilt retaliated by developing a rival steamship line to California, cutting prices until he forced them to pay him off. He then turned to transatlantic steamship lines, driving the Collins Line into extinction.
Did You Know?
- Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-grandfather, Jan Aertson, was a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in Utrecht, Netherlands, who immigrated to New Amsterdam as an indentured servant in 1650.
- On November 8, 1833, Vanderbilt was nearly killed in the Hightstown rail accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey; also on the train was president John Quincy Adams.
- Vanderbilt married his first cousin Sophia Johnson on December 19, 1813, at age 19, and they had 13 children together.
- Vanderbilt remained a member of the Moravian Church to his death, while many other Vanderbilt family members had joined the Episcopal Church.
- The landmark Supreme Court case Gibbons v. Ogden, which Vanderbilt helped bring about by working for Thomas Gibbons, ruled that states had no power to interfere with interstate commerce.
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